How To Sharpen A Knife

Sharpening a knife correctly can be misconstrued as a relatively straightforward task you have seen done hundreds of time in the kitchen, on commercials (usually infomercials!) and on TV. Is it a simple case of rubbing the knife on a knife sharpener a few times, maybe using a designated sharpener and the old ‘rub two sharp objects together trick? Well the answer is you could probably get away with doing the above but little do you know you could be doing damage to the knife itself and you wouldn’t necessarily get the best results.

So here are a few tips on how to properly sharpen your kitchen knife and although it isn’t hard, there may be a few more steps than you originally thought!

First you will need a knife sharpening whetstone. Check with the manufacturer of this whetstone as to the best way to wet the stone, whether you are using oil or another lubricant.

You need to know the angle at which your knife is sharpened. It isn’t enough to simply sharpen a knife at any angle you feel fit as a knife has been originally forged and sharpened at a specific angle. Maintaining that angle is essential. Find out the sharpening angle from the manufacturer if you are unsure.

After knowing the angle (it is preferable you use an angle guide), the key is to sharpen the knife by dragging or carving it along the stone in the opposite direction compared to how you would cut with it.

Remove debris and lubricate the knife using the lubricant you used in step 1.

Continue doing step 3 using the other side of the blade. Then alternate again removing debris from the blade every time you flip the blade over.

The duller the knife the more you need to use the course side of the stone, then as it gets shaper, move to the finer side of the stone.

Repeat the process until you are satisfied with the sharpness of your knife.

This is probably not your standard procedure of sharpening a knife but if you follow the steps then you will most likely have a blade as sharp, if not sharper, than when you first bought it.

Otherwise if you don’t have the time or the materials you can find your local knife or blade sharpening service right here at Aussiweb.com.au. Search for knife sharpeners in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and pretty much anywhere around Australia.